


Confessions in an Anxious Spacetime

by AwkwardAuthorArianna



Category: Edens Zero (Manga)
Genre: Confessions, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29062107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardAuthorArianna/pseuds/AwkwardAuthorArianna
Summary: Weisz struggles with his feelings.
Relationships: Shiki Granbell/Weisz Steiner
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Confessions in an Anxious Spacetime

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday to the Steinbell Queen, Mari! Hope you don't mind I snuck my OC in there for a second, lol. Enjoy!
> 
> Title is in reference to the video game "Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime."

Weisz stared blankly at the movie playing out on the screen, refusing to look anywhere else while his mind clouded itself with frustration.

He was  _ not  _ going to look over at Shiki cuddling in a pile of blankets on the floor with Rebecca, Hermit, and Pino.  _ Nope. Absolutely not. _

A small giggle distracted Weisz from his brooding and he broke his resolve almost immediately, looking over at his friends. Shiki’s arm was wrapped around Rebecca’s shoulder- though she was more focused on the pile of snacks in his lap than anything else- and Hermit was leaning on his other side, arms linked, with Pino sitting in her lap. They all looked so…  _ cozy. _

That’s really what Weisz hated the most about seeing them. They were comfortable being so touchy-feely with each other, and he hated that just seeing other people be that way was enough to trigger his discomfort as if  _ he _ were the one being touched.

He  _ knew _ it was jealousy- knew, but didn’t want to admit it. He knew he was jealous that they were able to cuddle with Shiki so freely, and Weisz was left shoving him away. He was jealous that they were cuddling, but also that they were comfortable enough to do it in front of other people.

Where he came from, you just didn’t do that. Where he came from, someone like Shiki- with his naivety and over-the-top emotions and love of friends and hugging- would be ridiculed and attacked daily. Where  _ he _ came from, guys just weren’t supposed to do that.

Or  _ when _ he came from, rather. Apparently, things had changed in the last fifty years. Shiki and Laguna were proof of that.

Weisz looked to the other side of the elegant-yet-homey Edens Theater, unable to look at Shiki anymore. But what he saw there wasn’t much better.

Kleene and her girlfriend, Quinn, were sitting cuddled up on the loveseat together. Kleene was slowly running her fingers through Quinn’s long, curly black hair. Her usually wide, gold eyes were narrowed in contentment, her bronze skin tone a stark contrast to Kleene’s pallid one.

Weisz rolled his shoulders and stood up, trying to mask his annoyance. He walked out of the theater room quietly and started down the hall. Where, he didn’t know. He just walked.

He moved past the hallway to the residential quarters and up a flight of stairs. He slowed down at the door to the kitchen, but quickly decided to keep moving, and went up another flight of stairs. Down that hall, past Edens Spa, Weisz finally stopped at the door to the observation deck.

He walked in, staring at the vast expanse of space on the other side of the glass, and his shoulders started to relax. He laid down on his back- staring up, eyes unfocused- and let the void absorb his stress.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he heard footsteps walking toward him. Then, Shiki’s face appeared, eyebrows drawn together and a small frown tugging at his lips.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

Shiki laid down on the ground next to Weisz, arm behind his head, and looked over. “Are you sure? You just seemed kinda mad when you left the theater.”

“Why would I be mad?” Weisz forced nonchalance into his tone, staring directly above him. If he looked at Shiki, he didn’t know if he’d be able to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“I don’t know. It just felt like you were frustrated. Actually, you seem to be on edge a lot, lately.”

_ ‘Damn you and your concern,’ _ Weisz thought. “Well, I’m still not a fan of Drakken Joe’s lackeys being on our ship, but I’ve clearly been outvoted, so excuse me for limiting my contact with them.”

Shiki propped himself up on his elbow and looked at Weisz. “That’s not it,” he said.

Weisz swallowed hard, unable to avoid looking at Shiki. “Mhm, and how would you know?”

“Laguna said you really calmed down towards them after the fight at the Foresta satellite. So I don’t think you’re still angry with them. If you were, you wouldn’t have even been in the same room with them in the first place.”

Weisz scoffed, sitting up. “Well I don’t wanna talk about it with you.”

Shiki followed suit. “Are you mad at me?”

“What?” The question shocked Weisz out of his bad mood temporarily. “No. Why would I be mad at you?”

The corner of Shiki’s mouth tugged down even further than before. “I just… feel like you’ve been frustrated with  _ me _ lately. Whenever I tried to hug you, you just seemed to get mad, so I stopped trying.”

Weisz stared in disbelief.  _ ‘How long has he been worrying about this?’ _ he thought.

He shook his head lightly. “That’s not… It’s not like that. The issue.. I…” his voice trailed off. After a moment of silence, eyes darting around as if the right words would appear out of thin air in front of him, he sighed, pulling his knees up a bit and resting his arms on them. “It’s not you. I’m frustrated with myself.”

“Why?”

Weisz chuckled humorlessly. Then his voice failed. His mind remained blank while he opened and closed his mouth, as if that would somehow force the right words out.

“Weisz, you don’t have to tell me,” Shiki said gently.

_ “But I want to. _ I’m frustrated because I haven’t been able to say anything.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

Shiki was quiet, calm, and patient. Weisz glanced at him once and quickly looked away, his frustration and anxiety clashing together in a way that made both exponentially worse.

His hand shot out and grabbed Shiki’s arm, squeezing at first, but loosening his grip after a moment. Shiki covered Weisz’s hand with his own in support.

Weisz took a deep breath. “I, um… I.. like you. As more than a friend.”

Shiki blinked, but didn’t say anything. Several eternities passed in the silent seconds that followed.

Weisz’s panic skyrocketed, and he wrenched his arm away from Shiki. “Forget it. Just forget I said anything,” he said, moving to stand up.

“No, wait, Weisz-” Shiki reached after him.

“I said just fucking forget it, already, leave it alone.”

“But I like you, too!”

Weisz froze. Then, he scoffed loudly. “Yeah, right. I said ‘as  _ more _ than a friend,’ Shiki, do you even know what that means?”

“Well, I didn’t, at first. All I knew was that I wanted to hug you and be around you all the time, and I thought that was just what it was like to have friends. But then, I started getting nervous around you for no real reason. My heart would race and I would just feel like… like I was waiting for something, but I never knew what.”

Weisz stared at Shiki, almost unable to even comprehend the words coming out of his mouth.

“Then, one day, I was hanging out with Quinn when she started talking about Kleene. About how much she liked her and how she felt around her, and I realized that a lot of what she said applied to how I feel about you. It took a few more conversations with her and Witch to really get it, though. Then, I guess I couldn’t help trying to hug you, but it always made you uncomfortable, so I stopped.”

The sudden confession knocked the wind out of Weisz and left his head spinning. Looking closer, he could see the tension in Shiki’s shoulders, one of his hands gripping his other wrist tightly.

_ ‘He’s just as nervous as I am right now.’ _ Weisz thought.

“You… really like me?”

Shiki nodded, his bright smile on full display. “Yeah.”

Immediately, Weisz’s shoulders shot up to his ears and his face turned into pure flames.

“Ah, uh, well, I, um… I- yeah..”

Shiki’s grin looked a bit more devious as Weisz once again struggled to say something,  _ anything. _

“You…?” Shiki asked, raising an eyebrow, feigning confusion.

_ “I like you, too, idiot,” _ he whispered. Shiki’s adorable, contagious smile made it impossible to not follow suit.

“Hey, look! Space fish!” Shiki pointed out the observation deck window.

Weisz chuckled. “Yeah. Space fish.”

A quiet moment passed between them again, this time calm rather than tense.

“Hey, Weisz, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why was that so hard for you? Why did it frustrate you so much?”

Weisz’s tension returned. “That’s two somethings. Actually, it’s three,” he deflected with an easy smirk.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

As quickly as it appeared, the smirk fell off Weisz’s face, and his shoulders returned to their tension-filled place just beneath his ears. “Well, it… it’s not so easy to admit when you’ve been told your whole life that it’s wrong.”

_ “...Oh.” _

Weisz nodded. “Yeah. Norma…  _ sucked, _ to say the least.”

“I’m sorry, Weisz.”

Weisz shrugged. “I’m not there anymore, so what they think doesn’t matter, right?”

He tried to sound casual, but he was pretty sure Shiki could hear the tiny tremble in his voice. Shiki smiled back at him anyway, soft and bright.

“Yeah.”

“That’s gonna take some time to get used to.”

“That’s okay,” Shiki reached out and gently touched Weisz’s arm. “I can be patient.”

“Thanks, Shiki,” he said, returning his smile with a small one of his own.

“Of course! What are friends for?”

“Oh, come on!” Weisz exclaimed as Shiki burst out laughing. “Don’t say  _ that _ after the conversation we just had!”

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, still chuckling. “I just wanted to mess with you.”

Then he leaned in, laughter replaced with a teasing smirk.  _ “You’re really cute when you get all embarrassed.” _

Weisz’s shoulders shot up so fast, he was sure it gave him whiplash. He turned away as Shiki burst out laughing yet again.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Maybe,” Shiki sighed as his laughter subsided. “Can this idiot hug you?”

_ “... Sure.” _


End file.
